Chelsea have signed Strasbourg midfielder Valentin Barco on a seven-year contract.
The 21-year-old becomes Chelsea’s sixth summer arrival, following Morgan Rogers, Danny Welbeck, Emmanuel Emegha, Maxence Lacroix and Marco Palestra.
Barco will join the squad on their pre-season tour, with the Blues set to face Juventus in Hong Kong on 5 August. The fee was not disclosed.
He has one senior cap for Argentina from the 2026 World Cup, where they finished runners-up to Spain, and he was involved in a post-match incident with Jude Bellingham after the semi-final win over England.
A Boca Juniors academy product, Barco moved to Brighton in 2024 for £7.9m, spent a year on the south coast, and then joined Strasbourg following a successful loan.
He is the second player to arrive at Chelsea from Strasbourg this summer; both clubs are owned by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital. It is the 13th deal between the two sides since the start of last season.